Multicolored sgraffito bowl

If you received a homemade card from me within the last few years, the chances are very good that it was distressed. That was my favorite technique when rubber-stamping. What is this distressing technique? It's either rubbing off the edges or adding ink to make it look old or worn...antique-like. Well, I kind of combined my favorite technique from pottery (sgraffito) and my favorite technique from paper arts (distressing) on this bowl. Even though it has shiny glaze, I rubbed off the black slip on the edges to give it some more character.

What I'm listening to...

Still enjoying those mums...

Thanks again, Pearly Girl!

Note to self: Please remember to not buy one of those cheapy coiling garden hose/sprayer combination thingies next spring because they don't even last the whole garden season before the sprayer breaks and it's totally useless because another want can't be screwed on and the whole thing has to be thrown away as one unit which is a waste of money and waste of environmental resources, etc, and then you will have to either get the old garden hose out or fill the water jug in order to water all the patio plants and herbs. Thank you "self" in advance for remembering this next spring.

Three handles again

Here's a pot I forgot to post from this summer. The glaze ran on the bottom, so was disappointed at first (but what pot is perfect?). Still have a saki set from this summer on my shelf waiting to be glazed and am working on lots of things now. Stay tuned for bowls (one I can't post because it's a gift (Oh, I hope it turns out!)) and tumblers that have yet to be bisque-fired.

Am comtemplating the struggle between wanting to throw perfectly but still wanting it to look like it was made by human hands. As Naomi the "Queen of Glaze Combinations" stated, the potters' wheel is a machine, so that's another thing to ponder. Blah, blah, blah. Those are my deep personal thoughts and thanks for letting me share. Goodbye for now.

Am still alive...

...just need some time away from the computer and blogging right now. Thanks for looking!

State fair experience

Here are a few pictures from the state fair on Sunday. Thanks to Aunt Jan and Uncle Bob for showing us around your stomping grounds and to my Kansas Mom for a pleasurable day. If you plan on going, I would suggest getting the apple dumpling ala mode. It's delicious!

Have been a little busy and/or needing a break from the computer, so that's why I haven't been posting as frequently.

Camera talk

Why I want a telephoto lens...After cropping down the pictures, this is as good as they get. That's a coyote and two deer.



I did have some that turned out last week.

Am figuring out that after squinting one eye for about 20 minutes to look through the viewfinder, the eye that I squint gets a little blurry. Am going to have to get used to that. Does this happen to anyone else with a DSLR?

Also finally realized that when shooting outside I should take off my polarized sunglasses or I'll be disappointed when I upload the pictures. I did buy a neutral-density filter and polarizing filter--hence the vignetting in the last picture. I have at least three filters on the lens.

Road-tripping

Since my husband had to be in the area last Friday, I suggested that we go to the KSU Gardens and Insect Zoo. The insect zoo was interesting and well worth the $2 admission fee.

We also stopped at Council Grove to see the Council Oak. It's a coincidence that I've been trying to finish Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee this month. Did you realize that when the Fifteenth Amendment was passed that Native Americans still couldn't vote? At least, that's what the book says.

Summer session pieces

This last piece is called "Vertigo!" and is in the display case on third floor.

Still have a saki set and another piece that will be glazed over the break. There are more pictures on my flckr account if you're interested in looking.

Greta's art exhibit

Finally took some time to post this...













Click right here to be transported to my flickr account for close-ups. The exhibit is up until August 28th if you'd like to see it in person. Be sure to read her artist statement towards the end!

Butterfly rescue mission update

Yesterday morning the first butterfly emerged and have had three more since then. There are more pictures on my flickr account (link on the right) of them.

Hope to get around to posting some pictures of my finished pottery and Greta's awesome art exhibit soon, so stay tuned.

Caterpillars/My science project

On July 22nd, I found these little caterpillars on my parsley and fennel and put them in jars so the wasps wouldn't eat them. Thought they would be good photo fodder.

Here's a picture of one yesterday---

And here's one of them pupating today.

How many people do you know my age that get excited about caterpillars? Told you I was weird. Let's see if I can get a better picture than last year (link) of the butterflies.

Cloud Rorshcach test

What do you see?







This?

Or this?

I will so graciously analyze your answer for a $50 fee, but you may not analyze my drawings...okay, I might do it for free if the answer is funny enough.

Sky for Saturday

Does anyone remember when I did Photo Friday (link)and took a picture based on their subject? Yes, it was a long time ago. I'm toying with the idea of "Sky for Saturday" or "Sepia Sunday" as picture subjects for blog posts to get me posting more. I love taking pictures of clouds and the sky, so guess I'll try it for awhile. Do you see anything in the clouds here? Maybe meringue or caterpillars?

The Welcome Prayer

Here's a prayer that Goteeman (link) shared on his blog this week:

The Welcome Prayer, by Father Thomas Keating:

Welcome, welcome, welcome.
I welcome everything that comes to me in this moment
because I know it is for my healing.

I welcome all thoughts, feelings,
emotions, persons,
situations and conclusions.

I let go of my desire for security.

I let go of my desire for approval.

I let go of my desire for control.

I let go of my desire to change any situation,
condition, person or myself.

I open to the love and presence of God
and to the healing action and grace within.

AMEN

I can speak the words, but not mean it yet...Too many things happening with two important people in my life to welcome any other relationship to be changed. I do know this should make me closer to God and trust he can use the situations for good...just not ready to welcome anything else right now. Am not looking for sympathy, just telling the truth.

More red, kind of...

Unbenounced to me, the high-fire clear glaze turns green when put on clay with iron oxide, so I was expecting all these to be red. Luckily, I only put glaze on the inside of the vase to seal it. The next piece is a tumbler.

Here are two pictures of a three-handled vessel. Would like to do more in the future.

Please vote now

Have you ever visited the
Bartlett Arboretum? It has suffered from flooding in the recent years and has been nominated for a grant. Please click here and vote for Robin Macy and the Arb' to get a grant from said wine company. Did you know she was the founding member of the Dixie Chicks?

On a somewhat-related topic (in my mind at least), these were the best pictures I could get of a tree hopper that I found in my yard about a week ago. I think it's so cute!!! Do you see how in my mind this can be somehow related to the arboretum, as it hops on trees? Just a little peek of how my mind works.

Thank you for you support (I by no means just subliminally suggested that you should drink wine or listen to the Dixie Chicks (even though I like both) by voting, but you may do so at your discretion (or even drink Bartles and James for that matter in case anyone remembers those commercials using said phrase)).

Have I used enough parentheses in this post? Maybe this would make a good "mind teaser" quiz--How many parentheses do you see in this post and did I even spell parentheses right?

Another plug...this time for a very cute blog!

Did I say I was going to post pictures of Independence day? Well why don't you just gohere (click right here for Cloud1000) and see some for yourself.

Also took some very weird pictures I might post later, but I took 91 pictures and have to narrow them down a bit.

Plug for Greta

Remember this post (click here) from October when I talked about Greta letting me take pictures of her sketchbook?

Well, she's having an art show!!! I finally get to see some of her paintings and ogle over them. (BTW, why don't they spell ogle with two o's?) She will have her ceramics as well. I'm going, even if I have to by myself (hint,hint)!

Here's a preview of an unfinished piece of hers using the masking technique.

Love ya, Greta; bye!

Finally...

If you've looked at my hands in the last month, I've probably had to explain to you that I've been using red clay and haven't had a self-tanning disaster. Finally got some finished pieces. The clay is called SB red, and it stains hands and gets stuck between fingernails and cuticles.
There are a few more pieces that need to be bisque-fired, are drying on the shelf, or almost done in this clay. These are tumblers with the sgraffito technique with black covercoat.
This pot is my ode to fennel. The glaze didn't turn out like I expected, so of course I'm not too excited about it.


A couple more tumblers.


What else is in the works? I'm out of the vase phase and want to do pitchers for some reason...and have been kicking around ideas for the class project and bowl assignment and maybe even the communion set I keep putting off.

Will post some Independence Day pics when I get around to it.